“So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully.”
— Luke 19:6 NKJV
“But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.’”
— Luke 19:7 NKJV
In our last reflection, we considered the joyful response of Zacchaeus as he hurried down to welcome Jesus into his home. That moment was marked by eagerness and recognition that something far greater than material wealth was entering his life. Yet almost immediately, the tone shifts. The crowd—the anonymous “they”—began to complain.
Luke, usually careful to name names, does not tell us exactly who they were. Perhaps it was the Pharisees, known for their rigid judgments. Or perhaps, more uncomfortably, it included some of Jesus’ own disciples. The ambiguity seems intentional, pressing us to consider how easily we might fall into the same posture.
At its core, this passage reveals how offensive God’s grace can feel to the human heart. We want blessing to make sense. We want reward to be earned. Yet Paul reminds us in Romans 9 that God’s mercy is not subject to human fairness but flows from His eternal counsel:
“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”
— Romans 9:15 NKJV
This truth touches deeply on how we handle not only relationships but also resources. When it comes to legacy and wealth stewardship planning, the temptation is strong to hold tightly to control—deciding for ourselves who is “worthy” or “deserving.” Yet Jesus’ teaching turns this impulse upside down:
“Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you… for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
— Matthew 5:44–45 NKJV
If our Father gives so generously—even to those we would exclude—then how much more should our own stewardship reflect His open-handedness? Legacy is not only about passing down wealth or resources; it is about shaping hearts, modeling generosity, and entrusting what we have been given in ways that reflect God’s kingdom values rather than our own narrow judgments.
The “they” in Luke’s account reminds us of our tendency to complain when God’s choices don’t align with our sense of fairness. But legacy and stewardship require us to rise above complaint and control, choosing instead to trust His wisdom. To hold wealth with humility. To plan for the future with an eternal perspective. To remember that what we leave behind is more than possessions—it is a testimony of how we saw God at work in our lives and how willing we were to align with His ways.
For Zacchaeus, joy came in receiving Jesus. For the crowd, offense came in realizing God’s generosity cannot be contained by human fairness. For us, the question remains: will our stewardship and our legacy reflect the murmurs of complaint, or the joy of open-handed trust in God’s perfect counsel?
By Christopher L. Walker at myfathersestate.com
Published: October 1st, 2025
